Happy Birthday, Poe!

Today is Edgar Allan Poe's 202nd birthday; are you doing anything to celebrate?

Here's the story we ran two years ago on the bicentennial of his birth, and here are some photos detailing the progress of restoring Poe Cottage in the Bronx.

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Read more about Edgar Allan Poe in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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Cleopatra's Needle: Is NYC Pollution to Blame?

As you may have seen reported in the Wall Street Journal, TIME, and many other news outlets, there's a bit of an archaeological dust-up happening in Central Park. Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, wrote a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg complaining about the condition of Cleopatra's Needle, the 71-foot tall obelisk that resides in Central Park directly behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The obelisk, a gift from the Khedive of Egypt, has been in the park since 1881, when William Henry Vanderbilt paid over $100,000 to have it transported from Alexandria to the United States. The needle--one of a pair--was constructed ca. 1475 B.C. and originally stood up the Nile in Heliopolis. Both obelisks were moved to Alexandria ca. 13 B.C., perhaps in honor of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. In antiquity, one of the needles fell in an earthquake, and that one was transported in 1877 to London, where it still stands on the banks of the Thames. Four years later, New York's obelisk arrived; weighing over 220 tons, the needle had to be inched along a special railway from its West Side dock at 96th Street to Central Park--just getting it across the island took 112 days!

For years, visitors to the park have complained about the weathering of the granite and the loss of its hieroglyphics. Many--including Zahi Hawass--have come to the conclusion that New York is to blame. As Hawass wrote in his letter to Mayor Bloomberg, "I am glad that this monument has become such an integral part of New York City, but I am dismayed at the lack of care and attention that it has been given. Recent photographs that I have received show the severe damage that has been done to the obelisk, particularly to the hieroglyphic text, which in places has been completely worn away."

But is that "severe damage" New York's fault? In his insightful archaeological blog, Per Storemyr examines the obelisk in old photos and comes to the conclusion that the obelisk was already weathered by the time it reached America. In particular, his points to the photo (above) from the Library of Congress taken ca. 1856-60, which shows that twenty years before it came to New York, the needle was "only in marginally better condition than today. The weathering continues along part of the south face, whereas other photos taken before the transfer to New York show that the east face is in good repair, just as today."

Will this photographic evidence be enough to convince Egypt that we are good custodians of this monument? Or should objects like Cleopatra's Needle be repatriated for deeper reasons of cultural patrimony?

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Read more about the creation of Central Park in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Today marks both the feast day and the anniversary of the death (in 1821) of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Not only is Mother Seton the first American-born Saint,* she is also a born-and-bred New Yorker.

Born Elizabeth Ann Bayley, she married merchant William Seton in 1794; however, her husband soon grew ill, and, in 1803, they sailed to Italy to improve his health. William died in Pisa shortly after their arrival. In Italy, Seton discovered Catholicism--a denomination virtually unknown in New York's wealthy Protestant circles--and upon her return to New York, Seton was received into the Catholic faith, which enraged her friends and relatives.

As we write in Inside the Apple:

"Elizabeth’s family began threatening to have powerful allies in the state legislature kick her out of New York for proselytizing. (Or so the story goes--they never followed through.) Elizabeth didn't give them the satisfaction; instead, she moved to Baltimore in 1808 to open a school and then founded America’s first convent, the Sisters of Charity, the next year. She died at the convent in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1821. In 1963, she was beatified by Pope John XXIII, and in 1975, she was elevated to sainthood for her posthumous miracles."

A shrine to St. Seton now occupies the building at 7 State Street. It takes up two lots, the southern portion of which (6 State Street) is the only 18th-century home left in the area. Because the home is a shrine, most people make the obvious assumption that this is where the Setons lived from 1801-03. However, they actually lived next door at number 8. That home, which stood until 1963, the year of Elizabeth Seton’s beatification, was torn down in order that a chapel in her honor could be built in its place.

Mother Seton is the patron saint of widows, people who have lost their parents, those whose children have died, and people having trouble with their in-laws (!).

* This is an important semantic distinction. Seton is not the first American saint--
that honor goes to another New Yorker, Mother Cabrini, who was sainted in 1946.
However, Cabrini was born in Italy.

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Read more about the life of Elizabeth Ann Seton in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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Blizzard of 1888

We hope that everyone is enjoying their blizzard safely and warmly! Twenty inches of snow were reported in Central Park--which is half of what came down in the famous blizzard of 1888.

Here's our recap of that famous 19th-century blizzard:

http://blog.insidetheapple.net/2009/03/blizzard-of-1888.html.

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Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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World Trade Center Tops Out (and messes with everyone's TV)

Forty years ago today, at 11:30 a.m. on December 23, 1970, the north tower of the original World Trade Center "topped out" when its highest piece of structural steel was hauled into place. At 1,370 feet, this made the World Trade Center the world's tallest building -- a title it would hold until the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) in Chicago topped out until May 1973.

map courtesy of New York magazine.

As the Twin Towers reached their final height, people in the Bronx and Westchester began to notice a problem: their television signals were becoming blurred or full of static. Late in the design phase of the World Trade Center, engineers had realized that VHF television signals beamed from the top of the Empire State Building would hit the Twin Towers and bounce back 35 millionths of second later; this may not seem like much, but it was enough of a delay that people in the path of the second signal -- see map, left -- ended up with interference. The problem was going to last until new television antennas could be affixed to the top of the World Trade Center; in the meantime, broadcasters came up with a stop-gap measure of broadcasting on a separate UHF frequency. The only problem? Many televisions in 1970 didn't have UHF built in, and a converter cost $25.

In September 1970, New York magazine ran a long story entitled "Is the World Trade Center Worth All the Problems It's Causing New York," detailing the television broadcasting woes, along with other complaints that were commonly leveled against the complex: it's too big; the Port Authority is wasting money on real estate; there will be too many people flooding into Lower Manhattan for the the subways to handle. Other interesting information from the piece (which you can read here):

• There was talk of extending the soon-to-be-built Second Avenue subway south of 34th Street to accommodate the added Wall Street traffic.
• Another subway proposal: build "people movers" from the WTC to the Lexington Avenue and Second Avenue lines.
• It was estimated that only 2,000 people out of 150,000 a day were going to use the Hudson Tubes (aka the PATH train) to commute to the World Trade Center.
• The Port Authority was asking WTC tenants to stagger their work schedules so as to ease the burden on the subways.

A portable Sony color TV in 1970 runs you $309.95

The money quote comes from then-Congressman Ed Koch: "Public funds ought to be used for better purposes, such as mass transit. This is antiseptic.... [David] Rockefeller is leveling everything and putting up clean towers that match the Chase Manhattan Bank. I place the blame for this on him."

Were you around in 1970 when the television signals went haywire? If so, let us know in the comments.

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Read more about the rise and fall of the World Trade Center in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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The Birth of the Crossword (or "Word Cross")

Today marks the anniversary of the first modern crossword puzzle, published in the New York World on Sunday, December 21, 1913.


By 1913, the World was one of the most famous newspapers in, well, the world. Joseph Pulitzer had purchased the paper in 1883 and raised its circulation through sensational news coverage (so-called "Yellow Journalism"), stunt reporting, like that of Nellie Bly, and a focus on distractions and pastimes. The World was beloved for its comic strips and Sunday Fun section.

The crossword (then called a "word cross") was added to the Sunday Fun section by Arthur Wynne, an English emigrant who worked for the World and had been asked to create a new puzzle for the paper. Remembering a game called magic square that he'd learned as a child, Wynne created a simple, diamond-shaped grid and wrote short clues. The puzzles became an overnight sensation, copied by newspapers throughout the city, and--eventually--the world. (Notably, the New York Times was slow to join the party. A Times editorial called crosswords "a primitive form of mental exercise" in 1924, and the paper did not publish the first of its famous puzzles until 1942.)

We've included Wynne's first crossword at left; if you can't read the clues, a clearer version is here. Notice that the clues are written to let you know which space the word starts and ends on; e.g., "1-32 To govern" is the 4-letter word that stretches from cell #1 to cell #32. Have fun!

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Read more about Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World in

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George B. Post (1837-1913)

Today marks the 173rd birthday of George B. Post, one of New York's most influential Beaux-Arts architects.

Post was born in New York City on December 15, 1837, and graduated from the University of the City of New York--today called NYU--in 1858 with a degree in Civil Engineering. Post immediately apprenticed to Richard Morris Hunt, who had recently returned from Paris with a degree from L'ecole des Beaux Arts. Post worked with Hunt at his Tenth Street Studio in Greenwich Village for a few years; however, as soon as the Civil War broke out, Post volunteered and became a captain of New York's 22nd Regiment. The company saw action not only at the front, but also during the quelling of the New York City Draft Riot in 1863.

In the post-war era, Post went on to rival his former teacher in terms of influence. Alas, many of his great New York buildings are now gone, including  the Produce Exchange, the Cotton Exchange, and Joseph Pulitzer's World building, the first skyscraper to call itself the tallest building in the world. But what remains of Post's work is spectacular, including the New York Stock Exchange (1903), the Harlem campus of City College (1907), the Brooklyn Historical Society (1881), and the original Williamsburg Savings Bank (1875) at 175 Broadway in Williamsburg. Post was President of the Architectural League, the American Institute of Architects, the Fine Arts Federation of New York, and the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park, where he oversaw the construction of the studio building for artists who were club members.

(Post also worked in other cities, most notably at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, where he built the Manufacturers and Arts Building, and as the architect of Wisconsin's Capitol in 1906.)

If you work or live near one of Post's buildings, take a moment today to stop and admire his handiwork. Happy Birthday, George!

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Read more about the New York Stock Exchange,
City College, and other Post buildings in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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30 Years Ago Today: John Lennon's Murder

"Everywhere’s somewhere, and everywhere’s the same, really, and wherever you are is where it’s at. But it’s more so in New York." -- John Lennon

Unless you are in a media blackout, you've probably already heard that today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, moved to New York City in August 1971, first living on Bank Street in Greenwich Village before settling at the venerable Dakota on Central Park West. Lennon was returning from the recording studio on the night of December 8, 1980, when he was shot by Mark David Chapman, a fan who had earlier that day waited outside the Dakota for Lennon's autograph.

Media outlets around the world have been flooded with Lennon articles in the past few days; here's a sampling of some of the more interesting explorations into Lennon in New York City.

• Rolling Stone has extensive anniversary coverage, including the entire interview they conducted with Lennon just three days before his murder.
  
• The BBC reports on events in Liverpool, Lennon's hometown, including a gathering of 50 musicians for a commemorative photo.
  
• At the Washington Post, a roundup of some of the Lennon coverage on the web, including a nice acoustic version of "Watching the Wheels."
  
• At the Huffington Post, Keith Elliot Greenberg--author of December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died--shares photos from Lennon's final days.
  
• CBS follows up on Mark David Chapman, Lennon's murderer.
  
• The New York Times has many articles, including: a slideshow of the aftermath of Lennon's death; a flashback to how many people found out about the shooting--during Howard Cosell's coverage of "Monday Night Football"; and a look back at Lennon's first American album, the politically charged Sometime in New York City.
  
• Curbed looks at how Lennon and Yoko Ono acquired their multiple apartments in the Dakota....
  
• ...while the New York Times's interview with residents of the Dakota reveals that the Lennons almost moved to the suburbs.
  
• New York Magazine tells the story of the iconic photo (above) of Lennon in his "New York City" t-shirt.
  
• And The Daily News interviews the doctor at Roosevelt Hospital who tried in vain to resuscitate Lennon on the night of his murder.

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Read more about John Lennon in New York in

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City.

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"Inside the Apple" Contest ends at Midnight

Happy Cyber Monday!

Today is your last chance to enter our contest to win a free, autographed copy of Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City (and to let your friends know how they can enter). Just read our blog entry at http://blog.insidetheapple.net/2010/11/win-signed-copy-of-inside-apple.html for all the details and then tweet to win.

Good luck!

Enrico Caruso and the Monkey House Incident

Enrico Caruso made his operatic debut in New York on November 23, 1903, to great acclaim; exactly three years later, he was back in the news for a more infamous reason--on November 23, 1906, he was convicted of inappropriately touching a young woman named Hannah Graham in the monkey house at the Central Park Zoo.

Caruso had been arrested a week earlier after being watched for three-quarters of an hour by police officer James J. Cain. As Cain later testified at the trial, he allegedly observed Caruso going up to a number of women in the monkey house; sometimes he stood close behind them so that his legs touched theirs; sometimes he touched women by reaching his hands out through slits cut in his coat's pockets. However, for reasons unknown, Cain did nothing to intervene until Caruso harassed Mrs. Graham. The singer was arrested and quickly brought to trial.

Other than Cain's testimony, the prosecution had very little to go on. They were unable to produce Mrs. Graham and a quick search of her address in the Bronx revealed no Hannah Graham in residence. Cain's excuses for not arresting Caruso sooner seemed flimsy and some observers wrote off the trial as yet another attempt to harass the Italian population. (When Italian New Yorkers flocked to the courthouse to support Caruso, the prosecution argued that their very presence is what had deterred Mrs. Graham from appearing in court.)

In the end, however, the judge sided with the prosecution and fined Caruso ten dollars--the maximum fine for disorderly conduct. Though Caruso vowed to appeal, he eventually let the matter drop, perhaps fearing that any additional publicity would not work in his favor. Five days after the verdict, he appeared on stage at the Metropolitan Opera to a chorus of cheers; he may have lost at trial, but he had surely won in the court of public opinion.

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